The Devil You Know

Sex in the church bathroom, an explosion in the choir stand, gun shots in the pastor's office, and an insanely jealous best friend...and that's all just on the wedding day! "The Devil You Know" is a fictional contemporary novel about the planning of a celebrity wedding including colorful characters that will stay with you long after reading the last page. More

Love, Honor, & Protection!

It all begins with Tranerious McClintock, a major league baseball player who is very wealthy and his fiancé Angie, a recent USC Law graduate booking the church for their wedding. When they’re done, Angie hastily leaves to go obtain her original birth certificate, only to be told that the abstract she has is fraudulent. When she decides to call her foster mother for answers, she finds out that she has died, sending her spiraling into muddled and a depressed state of shock. She drives around dazed and confused and ends up in the parking lot of her therapist, where she is found with both arms cut from a razor and crying hysterically in the back seat of her car.

The heart of the book begins with Angie’s therapy sessions in which she begins to reveal what life was like growing up in an abusive Compton foster home. It becomes rapidly clear that Angie has several issues that she has yet to deal with including who she is, where she comes from, and who her real parents were. As she begins opening up to the therapist, she continues to plan her wedding which brings along its own set of twist and turns. An unforgettable tale of Angie's quest for self-discovery, hope for unconditional love, and friendships formed and broken, “The Devil You Know” is a drama filled story that unfolds all while a celebrity wedding is being planned and promises to keep you glued to the walk down the aisle and beyond.

Shaena “Sexcee” Jackson is an author and single mother of 2 boys who has a passion for writing and helping people from her community. Born and raised in Compton California, she was faced with many struggles in her childhood but she never allowed her problems at home to get in the way of her academics. School was always there when neither of her parents were and she fell in love with the idea that she could escape her reality by reading books. She graduated as Valedictorian of her class at Davis Middle School, with honors at Dominguez High School, and on the Dean’s List at Cal State University Dominguez Hills. Although always on top of her academics and studies, she always had a hidden self-esteem issue that no one knew about except her. She struggled with everything about her physical appearance from her big round eyes, thin sandy brown hair, and especially the color of her dark skin.

Today, she embraces all of her issues and has become a catalyst for encouraging young women everywhere to value their own self-worth with the use of activities that promote positive self-esteem and a healthy attitude towards life.

Reviews

Tran is the ultimate hot shot baseball player with more money than he can count, while his fiancée, Angie, is studying law and preparing to take her BAR exam. In the process of filling out paperwork for the wedding and her honeymoon, she discovers that her birth certificate is false. Having grown up in an abusive Compton orphanage, violent memories start crashing back to surface. Afraid that Tran will no longer love her if she confesses about her abusive past, she turns to her best friend and confidant, Satanya. As Satanya starts to rebel and protest the marriage, Angie tries to push her away. Through many pains and heartaches, Angie must choose between her best friend and her fiancé.

This book starts out with one heck of an explosive beginning and ends in a similar fashion. Sexcee Jackson delivers more dramatic twists and turns than in most Shakespearian plays. This story takes an intriguing dive into the ramifications of childhood abuse, along with the morals and justifications for every decision. Unfortunately, due to graphic nature and crude language this book will not be to everyone’s liking. There are several grammatical errors in the narration and the narration seems to deviate between a neutral point of view and a more character-based point of view. The dialect of the characters is very specific to their Compton background, yet doesn’t seem to match with their chosen careers. Overall, The Devil You Know is a thought-provoking psychological tale.

Notes:
The author provided a copy of this book for me to review.
This review was originally posted on Ariesgrl Book Reviews website.
(reviewed 7 months after purchase)